DIEHL, Carl Gustav Ruben. Malmö 21.9.1906 — Lund 1/2.5.1995. Swedish Lutheran Missionary, Bishop, and Scholar of South Indian Religion. Son of Anders Diehl, a house manager, and Emma Andersson, matriculated from Malmö in 1925. From 1925 studies of theology at Lund, teol.kand. 1929, ordained as priest in 1930. Missionary of the Swedish Church in South India from 1932 to 1953. During vacations studied philology at Lund, fil.kand. 1939, fil.lic. 1948. Ph.D. 1956 Lund. From 1956 Docent at Lund. In 1954-59 acting Professor of history of religion and psychology of religion at Lund University, in 1960-66 Mission Director and Docent at Uppsala. In 1967-72 Bishop of Trankebar, Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church. Married 1935 the nurse Agnes Cecilia Friberg (1904–1987), two daughters.
Publications: Diss. Instrument and Purpose. Studies on Rites and Rituals in South India. 394 p. Lund 1956.
– Kristendomets möte med religionerna. 144 p. Malmö 1961; Arvet från Tranquebar. Kyrka och miljö i södra Indien. 136 p. 6 pl. Stockholm 1974.
– Church and Shrine: Intermingling Patterns of Culture in the Life of Some Christian Groups in South India. 203 p. Acta Univ. Ups., Hist. Religionum 2. Uppsala 1965.
– Articles on South Indian Christianity and Hindu religion, e.g. “Puṇyāhavācana”, Or. Suec. 6, 1957, 97-106; “The Goddess of Forests in Tamil Literature”, TC 11, 1964, 308-316; “Who was Aiyappan?”, Actes du 29e C.O., Paris 1976, 130-135; “The smile of Murukam”, IT 6, 1978, 133-135; “Maṭaṉ-mā and sādhana in bhakti. Notes on the Vaishnava Poetess Āṇṭāl of Śrīvillipputtur”, IT 7, 1979, 219-223; “Divine Identity in Tamil Nadu”, StOr 50, 1981, 19-28; “The passage III, 3.2.21-33 in Bhaviṣya-Purāṇa”, IT 10, 1982, 83-86.
Sources: Lund Univ. Matrikel 1959-60; personal knowledge 1981; S. Johansson, Missionärsarkiv. En studie i forskningspotential. Cand. diss. Uppsala 2003 in http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:213102/FULLTEXT01.pdf; briefly in Swedish Wikipedia.
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